Desmond Howard makes important distinction about last season's national championship game

Georgia ended its 40-year national championship drought last season by defeating Alabama at Lucas Oil Stadium. It was an impressive bounce-back considering the Bulldogs fell to the Crimson Tide 41-24 in the SEC Championship.

But ESPN analyst Desmond Howard thinks Alabama wasn’t playing with a full deck.

Howard joined “First Take” alongside Stephen A. Smith to talk about that matchup and made an important distinction about who won that night. Remember, Alabama was without John Metchie and lost Jameson Williams mid-game, meaning Bryce Young lost two key weapons. That’s why Howard argued Georgia — despite having the best defense in the country — wasn’t the best team despite the 33-18 victory.

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“I’ve told people since that game, the best team didn’t win that game. The healthiest team won that game,” Howard said. “When both teams were healthy, we saw what happened in the SEC Championship game, sir. I do not believe that the best team won the national championship. I didn’t have a dog in the fight. But … the healthiest team won the national championship.”

Alabama is once again the favorite to win the SEC this season with Young coming back, Will Anderson returning to anchor the defense and multiple additions via the transfer portal. Georgia, meanwhile, is the No. 3 team in the preseason AP Top 25 and could have another shot at the College Football Playoff in 2022.

Aaron Murray believes the Georgia defense’s biggest strength is its biggest weakness in 2022

The Georgia defense was the most dominant unit in college football last season and a big reason the Bulldogs ended their national championship drought. Although many key playmakers departed for the NFL, former Georgia quarterback-turned-ESPN analyst Aaron Murray thinks they’ll still play fast.

He said that’s Georgia’s biggest strength — but, Murray said, it could also be its biggest weakness.

“I don’t think the defense necessarily takes too big of a step back this year,” Murray said, in part. “Obviously, it is a step back. It’s hard to replicate what they did on that side of the football last year. But I think there’s enough good pieces at every single level … that return from last year. It’s the rest of the guys catching up and getting up to speed. The good thing for them as a team in general this year, I don’t think the schedule’s very hard. I think it’s a very manageable schedule. I think the offense is going to be relied upon a little bit more heavily than it was last year as those young guys get going on that side of the ball on defense.”